Alabama

Former Guthrie's in Hoover to reopen as another restaurant

The former Guthrie's restaurant at 1700 Montgomery Highway in Hoover is going to get new life. The building has been leased by Hassell Rather, who plans to reopen it as a restaurant, said Len Shannon, whose Shannon-Waltchack real estate firm represented the landlord in the deal.

Efforts to reach Rather for comment on Wednesday were not successful, so it's not clear what kind of restaurant is in the works. But Rather has a track record in the business with barbecue.

Rather has owned Uncle Sam's barbecue restaurants in Hueytown, Roebuck and Vestavia Hills. Before being rebranded under the Uncle Sam's name, those restaurants were Johnny Ray's franchises.

This item was published in The Insider, a weekly column in The Birmingham News Business section.